


Sanctify

by TenSpencerRiedPlease



Category: A Simple Favor (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, I Don't Even Know, Manipulative Relationship, Random & Short, a test run of sorts I guess, seriously i have no clue what this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 17:56:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16023008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TenSpencerRiedPlease/pseuds/TenSpencerRiedPlease
Summary: The first time they’d seen Emily she’d looked right at Stephanie. She doesn’t know why, she’s not the kind of girl someone like Emily would ever pay attention to, but she looked over and she smiled. Darren had leaned down a little, half turning towards her. “She is going to eat you alive,” he told Stephanie.Five years later she thinks maybe Darren was right.





	Sanctify

**Author's Note:**

> Alright y'all, I have no clue what this is. But I loved this movie and honestly I have never wanted lesbians more. And usually I hate Anna Kendrick. Anyways, this is me just... testing things out, I guess, getting a feel for the characters. I don't much think this is good, but I do think its useful practice to nail down the characters. I fuckin _love_ Emily so there's a strong likelihood of more of this pairing lol. When I figure out plot and whatnot. Also this has no plot- its like an extended shitpost with characters lmao.

The first time they’d seen Emily she’d looked right at Stephanie. She doesn’t know why, she’s not the kind of girl someone like Emily would ever pay attention to, but she looked over and she smiled. Darren had leaned down a little, half turning towards her. “She is going to eat you _alive_ ,” he told Stephanie.

Five years later she thinks maybe Darren was right but she has to keep playing along, there’s a plan for these things and she thinks she’s gotten pretty good at working stuff out by now. She’s always been a bit of a go-getter and she’s a quick study, so figuring out Emily’s games hadn’t been too difficult. “Oh there has to be some kind of mistake,” she tells the cashier, smiling just a little. Emily says it makes her look sweet and innocent with her wide eyes and naturally apologetic nature.

“I’m afraid not,” the cashier tells her but she looks suspicious and Stephanie has never been good with this part in particular. She panics if people are on to her and she’s much better at playing stupid than actually being stupid. She hates breaking the law but Emily needs her to and she can’t just say _no_ to Emily. She’s not the kind or person you say no to.

“I… well, this can’t be right,” she says, not faking the little bit of panic in her tone. How is she going to get out of this?

The hand settling on the small of her back makes her jump a little but when she looks up Emily is looking down at her and she instantly feels calmer. Emily has that affect. “Hey baby, what’s wrong?” she asks empathetically, lifting her eyebrows a little. It’s a silent way of asking if their cover is blown and Stephanie shakes her head a little.

“I don’t really know. I mean the cashier says the money is fake but I don’t know how that could be possible I just-” she stops talking when Emily’s face falls effortlessly into a look of pain and distress. For a moment she reaches out, concerned for her but when Emily looks up at the cashier and Stephanie realizes its part of the rouse. The cashier, for her part, also looks concerned.

“Shit,” Emily says, “I’ve got this ex, he was a fucking bastard-” her voice breaks and she lifts her hand to her mouth as the tears well up in her eyes. If Stephanie didn’t know that wasn’t true she’d believe it too. “He- I knew it was too convenient when he gave back my wallet but I thought- I just thought maybe it was finally over and he’d grown some _sense_.” She shakes her head and lets out this small noise of pain that has Stephanie reaching for her instinctively.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry,” the cashier says. “Look, this isn’t your fault, I’ll deal with it,” she says and she reaches out for Emily too.

Emily shakes her head, “no, its okay, I’m sure I have real cash in here somewhere just give me a second,” she says, sniffling as she shuffles through her purse a little frantically.

“Hey, no, its okay. You couldn’t help it,” the cashier says and Emily stops and looks up.

“Are you sure, because this is really embarrassing and-” the cashier cuts her off.

“Its not your fault, its okay. Go on, I’ve got this,” she says.

Emily looks so relieved as she tilts her head back a little, blinking the tears away. “Oh my god, thank you so much. I really appreciate this,” she says but she doesn’t apologize. Emily doesn’t apologize for anything.

As soon as they’re out of hear shot Emily drops the act and laughs, “holy shit, did you see her face? God I can’t believe she fell for such a crock of shit.” She shakes her head in disbelief as they walk away.

Stephanie has to take a moment to gather her nerves, “I… you… I am not good at this, you know that I’m not good at this,” she tells Emily. “We have to stop, we’re going to get caught.”

Emily stops for a moment, stepping in front of Stephanie and settling a hand on her waist. God, it’s not fair when she does stuff like that. She looks away but Emily tilts Stephanie’s face back towards her. “Hey baby look at me,” she says softly. “You did just fine, and we got out of it just like always. I’ve got you. I’ll always have you,” she says. “Okay?”

Stephanie doesn’t believe that, not really deep down, Emily doesn’t have anyone’s back but her own but the look on her face makes Stephanie’s heart flutter and okay she’s weak maybe. Instead of calling Emily on her lie Stephanie smiles, “yeah, you’re right. I’m just being paranoid,” she says, shaking her head. “Sorry.”

The dreaded word grabs Emily’s attention and she lifts a brow, “what was that?” she asks and Stephanie quickly shakes her head.

“So- I mean, I know you have my back. Thank you,” she says and Emily smiles.

“That’s more like it. We did good tonight too,” she tells her.

When they count the cash later they made over three thousand dollars and its easy money, especially when they do it all the time, but Stephanie will never be comfortable with it. She’s just not the type to do this kind of thing, never has been, but when Emily asks you to do something you do it. Its like this weird compulsion to please her and most of the time Stephanie likes that- Emily is a blessing in her life really, but sometimes she wishes she made her money in more legal ways. She has a job too, one in fashion that makes a lot of money, but Emily is a risk taker and they’ve got house debt. Sometimes they need to do things they don’t want to. Every couple does it, they’re no exception.

So, just like always when this happens, she makes another blog post. She runs a blog on how to make baked goods, and arts and crafts, and sometimes other things. It does pretty well and it’s a good distraction and an easy way to pass the time. Plus she loves cooking for Emily; she’s always so appreciative when she gets home from a long day at work.

*

If Stephanie weren’t so fucking smart Emily would think she was a sucker with a capital S. Shit, she’s so easy to manipulate and yet she sees Emily like no one else ever has and sometimes she refuses to be controlled by her too. She’s got limits, Emily has learned, and most of them she refuses to cross. Doesn’t mean she doesn’t like to test her bounds, see how far she can push Stephanie before she actually gets pissed off. It’s almost funny to watch, but then she retaliates sometimes and the fun loses its luster. But that doesn’t happen often so for the most part Emily gets to have her fun with Stephanie, poking and prodding at she pleases.

Stephanie is nothing if not reliable so when she gets home there’s food on the table and Stephanie standing beside with a smile on her face looking proud. That’s cute, how much pride she takes in her cooking and housework. If Emily had to do that shit all day she’d blow her fucking brains out but Stephanie is a special kind of wholesome.

“This looks good,” she says, pulling a green bean off her plate and eating it. Tastes good too, but Stephanie has an eye for detail and it shows in pretty much everything she does.

It’s a simple compliment but Stephanie practically shits an entire sun out she looks so happy. Emily has never met anyone who so closely resembles a ray of sunshine but Stephanie certainly fits that description. Sometimes she’s a safe haven from Emily’s fucked up life with her normal habits like cooking and baking. She’s like an anchor keeping Emily from floating away so long as she wants to be hooked.

“I was trying a new recipe. For the blog,” she clarifies.

Emily smiles, “well, turned out good.” God, that fucking blog is awful. Stephanie’s ridiculous shining personality shows through there too, just like everything else she does. Even the pictures she uploads with her recipes practically vomit up rainbows and happiness. But it keeps Stephanie occupied with her seemingly endless pit of energy. Emily wishes she had that much energy on her hands but it takes her every ounce of self control not to throw her fucknut boss out the window most days let alone come home and cook. When Stephanie had a job she managed no problem because taking on a bunch of responsibilities for her is simple, she never seems to have enough on her plate.

Impressive, given that Emily knows she’s a handful. But that’s sort of Stephanie’s specialty, isn’t it? Dealing with a million things at once. “So, how was your day?” Stephanie asks, leaning forward in interest and she’ll hang off every word too. Stephanie always pays so much attention. Too much attention. It’d been how Emily promoted her from someone to waste time with to someone she married. Stephanie has an eye for detail and she’s good at picking apart the details. She’d noticed when Emily’s story didn’t match up and she doesn’t slip up often, not anymore. Stephanie had forgiven her of course, she’s always so forgiving, but that attention to detail is useful.

So is her ability to take notes so sometimes Emily will have her case a joint out. She learns faster than Emily who to avoid and who will fall for their stories. People like Stephanie, they talk to her, and those details are useful later. At first Stephanie hadn’t liked it much, she’s too good of a person for Emily’s schemes, but she came around.

Emily’s lips lift a little in a smile and Stephanie swoons just like always. Beauty is a gift- she doubts she’d be able to get away with most of what she does if she didn’t look like something that walked off a magazine. “Dennis was being a fucking prick, as usual. I swear I told him to fuck off and eat a bottle of Xanax like six times today,” she says, rolling her eyes.

Like most people when they hear her talk to Dennis Stephanie looks a little affronted, though she’s used to it by now. “God, I can’t believe you talk to your boss like that,” she says, shaking her head in wonder.

She laughs, “well, if you don’t go at him like that he keeps bitching and whining,” she says. Tell him to shut his fucking face and he does it and stops causing problems for her.

“I kind of wish I could do that. Don’t think I’d have the guts, though,” Stephanie says, shaking her head a little in admiration.

Emily gives her a warm smile, “oh, sweet Stephanie you would be shocked at what you’re truly capable of.”

*

She’s out to lunch with Darren and a friend of his Sona when Emily comes up. Darren takes a long drink of his apple juice while looking away and Sona laughs, “what?” she asks.

Darren sighs, “Emily… is something special,” he says. He and Emily don’t get along and Stephanie has no idea why, but their snarky back and forths are arguments that are usually reserved for witty banter in TV shows.

Sona turns to Stephanie, “well, what’s she like?” she asks.

What _is_ Emily like? She remembers the first time she saw her, how she’d stepped out of her expensive car in these ridiculous heels in the pouring rain, how her umbrella had covered her face for a few moments and when she lifted it it’d been like looking at the face of an angel. And against all odds she’d looked right at Stephanie and smiled. “I… you know the kind of girl you look at and she looks amazing, but you think you’d never be able to pull off what she’s wearing? That’s Emily,” she says.

Shockingly Darren agrees, nodding. “She’s the kind of girl who’s self confidence is so high you kind of want to take a hit off of it,” he adds.

Sona considers this and nods, “well, she seems interesting.”

“Do _not_ let Stephanie go on about her, she will for hours if you let her,” he warns and Stephanie laughs.

“Oh come on, we all feel that way about someone sometimes, right?” The question is rhetorical but Darren shakes his head.

“Honey no one feels the way you do about Emily towards _anyone_. Honestly its weird, but I think Emily feels the same way about you,” he says. She wants to say ‘of course she does’ but Emily isn’t that kind of person. Stephanie knows that, and sometimes she’s scared of that, but mostly she likes it. Emily is wild, untamed, wrapped up in beautiful fashion with something darker lurking underneath and the way it scares Stephanie draws her closer too. Its like looking into the eye of a storm, knowing it won’t hurt you when you get to the other side.

*

Emily traces Stephanie’s slight frame with her fingertips, noting how small she is. The height difference between them is almost comical but Stephanie likes to joke that Emily is an Amazon. Given the kind of shit she’s been through hell, maybe she’d qualify. Stephanie is soft though, small, probably a little too kind and Emily knows she takes advantage of it. She isn’t going to stop though, not when Stephanie is so pliable and sweet.

Stephanie’s eyes flutter open and she frowns for a moment, confused after coming out of sleep. “What’s going on?” she asks, trying to blink the sleep away.

Emily smiles, “nothing baby, go back to sleep,” she murmurs, leaning forward to kiss Stephanie softly. She’s got plans.

**Author's Note:**

> [My writing Tumblr](https://tenspencerriedplease.tumblr.com/)


End file.
